Tag Archives: hobby

2016 is going to be a big year for me, hobby wise. Through luck, circumstance, and a bit of cajoling, I am planning to attend Breyerfest and NAN in July. And because that’s not scary enough, I’m also attending Breyerwest in March.

Breyerwest is something like a scaled down Breyerfest, which takes place on the west coast. It’s a way for hobbyists who can’t regularly travel to Kentucky to get a similarly awesome event. Breyerwest hasn’t been held in a few years, but I’m hoping that if this year goes well it will become a regular thing. I’m very lucky to have Breyerwest happening less than two hours away. Like ‘Fest, ‘West is going to have live shows, demonstrations, seminars, equine guests, and more!

Champion pony Smokin’ Double Dutch will be there!

I’m excited and also apprehensive about these big plans. These will be the biggest three live shows I’ve ever been to, with some seriously tough competition. I’ve got a mighty to-do list organized by task and priority to guide me through the preparation and hopefully maintain some sanity.

One of the things I’m looking forward to most about these events is visiting with hobbyists. I’ll get to spend lots of time with some of my favorite people, and I’ll finally get to meet folks who’ve I’ve only talked to online. Give me a shout if you’re planning to attend!

I’ve never been more invested in Breyerfest than this year. Not only have I been helping Erin ready her performance entries for the live show (and making some last minute props!), but I also have a model of my own attending and competing! My horse Nightfox was chosen as a finalist in Breyer’s Custom Contest!

Breyer announced this contest in mid May, and (with a little encouragement) I set to work finalizing some details so I could enter Nightfox in the Performance Excellence division.

Rose City Live 2013

As someone who makes all my own customs, tack, props, etc., it’s wonderful to have Breyer host a contest where individuals enter horses of their own creation. I take a lot of pride in my DIY approach to the hobby, and it’s very rewarding to have it recognized.

All of the contest finalists in each division will be on display at Breyerfest from Thursday afternoon through Saturday night in the Artisan’s Gallery. Since I’m not attending, Erin will be setting up my scene (and thus making her first foray into mini performance!)

Sweet Onion Live 2014

Thank you to Breyer for holding this contest and the judges for donating their time. I’m so honored to have been chosen and excited to have my work on display at the model horse event of the year. It’s my own little Armchair Breyerfest!

Are you going to Breyerfest this year? Send me a picture of yourself with my entry! It would totally make my day :D

One of the cool new things I did this year was to start judging at live shows. I’d previously dabbled in judging for an online photo shows series, but I hadn’t yet jumped into judging at live show. I’ve now judged at four shows and am scheduled to judge for at least three shows in 2015.

If you are a live shower, I highly recommend that you get involved with judging. There are many great reasons to judge, for all different kinds of hobbyists. And the hobby needs more judges. It is a common lament of show holders that good judges are hard to find. And often the same judges are available for a region’s shows, which gives showers less variety of opinions and placings.

Why should you judge? To help the hobby. To learn more about breeds and anatomy. To save money on showing. To oogle beautiful models. To be inspired. To have fun!

To learn. I’ve learned a lot about breeds, horses genetics, and anatomy as a customizer and shower. But judging pushed me to even further learning- I have a better working knowledge of breeds and breed types, and I’ve become a better judge of conformation and biomechanics. This in turn is helpful for me as a shower and customizer, as I am better at breed assignment and making a customized horse anatomically accurate.

To save money. Are live show entry fees a turnoff for you? Learn to judge! Generally judges are granted free entry to the show in the divisions they are not judging. Some shows will also provide lunch and even travel stipends for judged. Save on your entry fee, and you’ve got more cash for shopping and raffles at the show!

To oogle. There are so many beautiful model horses out there, and now you have an excuse to stare at them! It’s a real treat to see so many gorgeous pieces in one place. As a judge, you have the time and the mandate to examine them from every angle! There are some mold sand resins that didn’t tempt me… until I saw them in person! Beware: judging may effect the size of your want list :)

To be inspired. As a customizer, it’s important to see what else is out there. You can learn a lot from looking at other people’s work. I always find judging and showing to be inspiration- I got home renewed with ideas for new techniques to try, and new levels of detail to aspire towards.

To have fun! I was a little nervous when I judged the first time, but it was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed examining and placing the models. You also get to meet and talk to a lot of people this way, since folks always have questions for the judge. Judging is a great way to really partake in the full show atmosphere.

Excited yet? If you’re interested in judging, there are several good ways to get started and gain both confidence and reputation. First off, you can start judging photo shows. The online shows like MHOSS and TOPSA are always seeking judges. This is a great, low-key way to try it out in the comfort of your own home.

You can also look for youth divisions at local shows. Youth divisions tend to be smaller, with fewer entries and shorter class lists. They also have a pretty wide variety of quality in terms of entries, which can make it easier to judge. These divisions are extra fun too, since you get to talk to the kids and see their beloved ponies.

One of my favorite entries in the “Painted by Owner” class in the Sweet Onion Live Youth Division

Another good stepping stone is to judge at a home show. Home shows are smaller and generally more relaxed. It’s a great way for a novice judge to graduate from Youth Division to Open competition. In my experience, people are really excited to have a new judge, and are very welcoming to someone who wants to learn and practice.

I am really glad that I took the plunge to start judging. I’ve learned so much and it has really helped me to improve my own work and entries. I love to talk to other hobbyists, and I love giving back to the hobby! Need a new year’s resolution? Let 2015 be the year where you go forth and give judging a try!

I put this blog on official hiatus last January when I realized that work, moving, and starting at a new barn were keeping me too busy. My models and supplies were put away in preparation for our move, and I spent my weekends at the barn teaching lessons or at home packing boxes.

Helper cat is helpful

We moved into our new home in February. Painting, cleaning, unpacking, and organizing kept us busy. In April my dream came true and we had a studio built into a nook. I eagerly documented the process so I’d be able to share it here.

My new studio

At the end of April, I got sick, and I didn’t get better. Once again I found myself turning to models as a mental escape from frustrating exhaustion and depression. I couldn’t ride, but at least I had performance showing goals to work towards in the few hours a day I wasn’t sleeping.

So although I’d meant to start blogging again after we moved in, I didn’t. But I worked toward getting better. By the end of the summer I was feeling well enough to attend a live show. By September I was riding again. Today, I think I’m more or less back to normal, health-wise.

Despite the illness, it’s been a great year. We love our new condo and our urban life. I’m back to my regular hours at work, tackling new and exciting projects. I’m riding regularly and falling in love with a little dun gelding. I’ve had some great hobby successes and have exciting goals for the future.

Sweet Onion Live 2014

And as of right now, I’m blogging again! I’ve been keeping up with the other hobby blogs during my absence from the blogosphere, and I am constantly excited, inspired, and in awe of other hobbyists’ dedication to sharing their experiences. I know I wouldn’t be where I am today in the hobby without this generosity, and I want to be able to reciprocate. I may not be up to blogging as much as I did before my hiatus, but at least I’ll be posting again.

I particularly want to give a shout out to a couple specific people whose blogging has been inspirational to me over the last few months. To Jennifer Buxton, whose dedication to blogging and willingness to share is unparalleled. To Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig, whose honest and heartfelt post about her depression and her hobby journey resonated with me deeply- and made me want to buy an OF Breyer. And finally to Grace Ledoux, whose awesome hobby blog I recently discovered, whose mini tack is amazing, and whose thankful note pushed me to finally write this.

I have a busy work week before Rose City Live on the 8th, so I wanted to get ahead on packing. I am sure glad I started early, because I found not one but 4 horses that needed repairs! Argh.

I was really peeved at first (especially because it was my clumsiness that added one of those horses to the list) but then I realized that in the big scheme of things, this is not really worthy of exasperation. For one, I had caught everything in time to fix it (not, for example, the night before) and nothing needed major work.

But secondly and more satisfying, I realized I am perfectly capable of fixing all of the problems. I made the horse in the first place, so I can be confident in putting it back on the work bench for repairs. I’m happy that I don’t need to send these guys off to someone else to get repaired- I just added it to my pre-show to do list.

The four models went into the “hospital” on Tuesday, and by today nearly everyone is ready to go. Their fellows are all packed, and the other projects are nearing completion. Hurrah!

I’ve been very busy lately organizing what I coyly referred to in my last post as “a 300 person tech conference.” I was being vague because I felt like the event was not really relevant to the topic of this blog. But I realized that is silly.

This year I helped organize WordCamp Portland. WordCamps are world-wide, community-led conferences centered around the WordPress, an open-source publishing software that anyone can use. Tech-savvy folks can download and install it from WordPress.org, and those of us who don’t want to deal with security and software updates can sign up for free at WordPress.com.

Beer is also an important part of WordCamp Portland, because, ya know, Portland. Photo by Daniel Bachhuber.

Most of the attendees of WordCamps are .org users, including many developers and code contributors. But even though I don’t know my PHP from my MySQL, I’m still a passionate WordCamper. These events are a celebration of the awesomeness of blogging, and that’s something I can definitely get behind.

His post inspired this one. Because although the tech world might seem far from the model horse hobby, both have evolved and benefited greatly from the growth of blogging. Without the prolific hobby blogosphere, I would not have met most of my lovely hobby friends, nor would I have learned so much about customizing, tack making, etc. And it’s because blogging is so fun, easy, and rewarding that I can share what I’ve learned with you, my readers.

As Marshall Kirkpatrick said,

I remember discovering how easy it was to blog, not so many years ago, and I really hope that lots of people are still discovering how easy and how rewarding it is every day today. Yes, Facebook and Twitter are even easier – but there’s nothing like a good blog post.

When I re-entered the model horse hobby in late 2009, I made myself a promise that I would emphasize the crafty, do-it-yourself side of the hobby and participate for my own enjoyment and creative exercise. I wanted to maintain the hobby as a personal activity that combined my love of making things with my love of horses.

There was a time when I believed that I would never accept commissions, even if and when I reached such a skill level. I liked the idea of my work being valued by other hobbyists, but I viewed commissions as a chore that some people strangely chose to shackle themselves to.

My first commission

I couldn’t imagine having deadlines for customers who wanted to take a horse to this show or that, or needing to follow a specific reference strictly to the last detail. Forcing myself to work on a horse would have been the antithesis of my hobby goals. My works always evolve as I go along, and I never wanted to have a customer’s desire override my preference as the artist.

My feelings and impressions about commissions have changed, particularly in response to another one of my hobby-promises: that I would keep spending to a minimum, and only buy the supplies I needed to make things myself. I keep that promise still, but it doesn’t stop me from wanting what I consider out of my price range, such as unpainted artist resins.

My second commission, nearly finished

I recently started my third commission, as a trade for a beautiful draft resin I’ve long admired. What I’ve found is that commissions don’t have to be chores or fetters. They can be inspiring and exciting. Each commission trade has been the result of collaborative design and agreement between myself and the customer, with flexibility reserved for me in terms of both time and creation.

The customer’s vision is an impetus for me to create something new, something that perhaps I would not have envisioned myself. And because I maintain the freedom for that work to evolve, I keep the promise to myself to do this for enjoyment and fun.

It is lovely to have my work respected and wanted by others, but even more thrilling to collaborate with another hobbyist on a trade that makes both sides so happy and satisfied.

I’m enjoying the model horse hobby as a Do-It-Youself-er, making my own horses, props, and tack. I have a small collection of minis and love to show performance. This blog is to share tips, strategies and musings on our hobby in general and the DIY aspect in particular.- Leah Koerper email me